[QUOTE=Mtgman]
Why should someone who enticed a child get the same sentence as someone who prank calls 911? Because spelling out every possible crime and a “fitting punishment” for it would be impossible. People are extremely creative on how they commit crimes.
[/QUOTE]
Indeed they are. And that is why we have permissible sentence ranges for every offense grade. Take, for example, a crime like Robbery, which in Texas is a second degree felony. All second degree felonies carry the same sentence range: a term in prison of not less than 2 nor more than 20 years, plus a possible fine of up to $10,000. Now, there’s a huge difference between spending two years in prison, and spending 20 years there. That range is given to allow leeway so that the sentence given is proportional to the circumstances of the offense. Even with the single example of Robbery, I’m sure we can all imagine a robbery that might deserve the minimum of 2 years (say, a 17 year old guy runs into a 7-11 with a whiffle bat, grabs the money from the register, and sprints out again), and I’m sure we can imagine robberies that deserve 20 years (say, a 28 year old meth head terrorizes the clerk for an hour before finally leaving with the money). So, two offenses, even though the specific crime and offense grade is the same, may deserve two very different punishments. Which is why, generally, punishment (in my state at least) is set by a jury unless the defendant specifically and in writing elects to have the judge set punishment. And potential jurors are thoroughly grilled about whether they can consider the full range of punishment before they’re seated on a jury.
Anyway, I got really off track up there. My point was, even though some very different crimes are at the same offense grade level, that doesn’t mean that the punishments for those crimes will be “the same”. “Enticing a child”, by the way, means that an adult either attempts to lure or actually removes a child younger than 18 from the lawful custody of the child’s parent. If there’s a showing that the enticement was done with intent to commit a felony against the child, the enticement alone is a third degree felony, 2 to 10 years in prison. Being that the “enticing a child” statute is right between “interference with child custody”, “agreement to abduct from custody”, and “criminal nonsupport” in the Penal Code, I’m inclined to believe that the primary aim of the “enticing” law is as a tool primary managing conservators (meaning, the parent with full custody) can use if necessary to prevent the non-custodial parent from taking off with the kid. It gives you more options: sure, you might be able to file kidnapping charges, but then the non-custodial parent goes to jail for a long stretch, and without a job he can’t pay child support, which ultimately means the kid suffers through no fault of his own. Instead, you can proceed with the class B, have him on misdemeanor probation, and he’ll keep on working and supporting his child while at the same time under the thumb of the probation office. That could be a better situation, depending on the circumstances.